Kayla Thornton and Monique Billings turned their own missed shots into key hoops during a fourth-quarter uprising and the Golden State Valkyries held Caitlin Clark to a season-low-tying 11 points en route to a shocking 88-77 victory over the visiting Indiana Fever on Thursday night.
Thornton finished with a team-high 16 points and Chloe Bibby, making her WNBA debut, chipped in with 12 off the bench as the expansion Valkyries, playing without four regulars participating in EuroBasket, opened a five-game homestand with their most crowd-pleasing victory of the season.
Making her first trip ever to San Francisco, Clark shot just 3-for-14 and missed all seven of her attempts from beyond the arc in the worst 3-point shooting night of her WNBA career. Her other 11-point effort of the season had come at Atlanta, her only previous road game.
Coached by Austin Kelly in the absence of Stephanie White and led by Aliyah Boston’s 17 points, the Fever led by 13 as they attempted to win for the fifth time in their last six games.
But, after rallying within 59-55 through three quarters, the Valkyries dominated the final period. They took the lead for good at 62-61 at the 8:00 mark on a layup by Tiffany Hayes.
Down 69-65, the Fever appeared to catch a break when Thornton missed two free throws with 5:03 to go. But Bibby corralled the second miss and fed the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, who drilled a crushing 3-pointer.
Clark’s third hoop helped Indiana stick within 72-70 with 4:12 to play, but the Valkyries scored the next nine points, including a flurry-igniting layup by Billings after she retrieved her own missed 3-pointer.
Hayes chipped in 14 points and a team-high five assists, while Veronica Burton added 11 points and Laeticia Amihere 10 to go with four blocks for the Valkyries, who have won four of their last five.
Boston complemented her game-high point total with a game-high 12 rebounds and three blocks for the Fever, who were opening a three-game Western swing. Kelsey Mitchell had 16 points and Natasha Howard 13.
Clark added a game-high nine assists and also grabbed seven rebounds.
–Field Level Media
